Training for sub 1:20 500m

[FurtadoZ9]

Hi everyone

Today was an "off" day from the weights. After some cardio, I stumbled into the sectioned off area in my gym that has TRX equipment, climbing ladders and row machines. In the corner was a lonely C2 machine that (literally) had dust on it. I played with it for 10 minutes then decided to do a 500m run and scored a 1:35.

I'd like to get below 1:20 and am looking for techniques/ programming to get there. Appreciate any help!

[Ombrax]

Welcome to the forum.

You could check out some of the links in my response to a similar question elsewhere on the forum:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=186443#p474863

If you're a strong guy (sounds like you are) and you really want to concentrate on just sprints you'll want to use pretty high drag factors. Don't necessarily slam the damper lever to 10, but play around with it (and get the PM to display the Drag Factor) An old machine which hasn't been maintained may well have lots to dust inside the fan housing, with will cause the Drag Factor at a given lever position to be lower than it should be. Given that you're interested in 500m times you'll want a higher Drag Factor than if you were doing a 2k or a 10k.

There are a few threads on the forum started by guys who were training for similar short distances. Do some searching using possible keywords like "sprint" or "500m" and you'll probably find them.

Finally, assuming the gym lets you do this it's probably a good idea to give the rower a quick cleaning. I'd start by removing the cover and giving the flywheel area a good cleaning (a vacuum cleaner will help, but damp paper towels will also do the trick), then lubricate the chain and clean the rail and seat rollers. There's lots of info on the C2 web site on recommended maintenance and how to clean the flywheel.

Good Luck

[Allan Olesen]

A few facts, so you don't get disappointed midway:

In last season, 5487 male rowers logged a 500 meter ranking attempt. Of those, 69 rowers had a time of 1:20 or better. So 1:20 is a serious target, which will place you just outside the top 1%.

To get to 1:20 from 1:35, you will need to output 67% more power.

Anyway, 1:35 is rather impressive if you never rowed before, so the target may be within reach.

[MartinSH4321]

More infos about you would be helpful:

- have you ever rowed before/other endurance background?
- what's your height/weight/age?
- what's your deadlift and squat max?

If you're 6ft6, 120kg and deadlift 600lb you'll propably only need a proper technique

You should consider that for 500m a solid endurance base is very helpful, otherwise you'll propably die at about 45-60sec.

For comparison, one year ago, I did my first fast 500m after rowing about 50km total within about 1 month and got 1:31. I have a strength training background, and at the time I did this 500m I deadlifted about 160kg/350lb for 18 reps.
By now I'm not as strong as I was, but have a much better endurance and technique and have a PB of 1:23. Like Allen posted before, there's a huge gape between 1:35 and 1:20:
1:35 - 408 Watts
1:20 - 684 Watts
1:10,5 (WR) - 1000 Watts

[hjs]

Hi everyone

Today was an "off" day from the weights. After some cardio, I stumbled into the sectioned off area in my gym that has TRX equipment, climbing ladders and row machines. In the corner was a lonely C2 machine that (literally) had dust on it. I played with it for 10 minutes then decided to do a 500m run and scored a 1:35.

I'd like to get below 1:20 and am looking for techniques/ programming to get there. Appreciate any help!

How tall are you and how strong. Matters a lot. Don,t know how much effort you put in that 1.35, but from 35 to 20 is a leap.

To give you an idea, toprowers row 1.29 pace over 5k. The best 500 s are around 1.11 ish. Longer distances is a lot about aerobic fitness. Sprinting a lot lot about peak power. To pull 1.20 you need to be able, roughly, to reach 1.12 ish pace.
Deadlifting, squatting and backpulling are important. Rowing also, but without enough strenght 1.20 is impossible.

[jamesg]

1:20 pace means you have to pull 50+ strokes in that time, all of net length at least 1m and with peak force around 130 kg. Or equivalent. If you use ergdata with the PM, you can see these numbers though there may be some degree of approximation.

That pace is almost 700 Watt average (with a dead start) and about 70% more power than your 1:35 (410W).

A useful exercise to see what it involves might be 100 m intervals with 20s rest. If you can do a 100m in about 16 seconds with a dead start and a good warm-up, then 500 in 80 might be possible.

[hjs]

1:20 pace means you have to pull 50+ strokes in that time, all of net length at least 1m and with peak force around 130 kg. Or equivalent. If you use ergdata with the PM, you can see these numbers though there may be some degree of approximation.

That pace is almost 700 Watt average (with a dead start) and about 70% more power than your 1:35 (410W).

A useful exercise to see what it involves might be 100 m intervals with 20s rest. If you can do a 100m in about 16 seconds with a dead start and a good warm-up, then 500 in 80 might be possible.

No you need a good bit below 16 seconds, 15 flat is roughly needed.

[bob01]

Have a look at some of the vids of sprints... They ent going full slide!

[FurtadoZ9]

Welcome to the forum.

You could check out some of the links in my response to a similar question elsewhere on the forum:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=186443#p474863

If you're a strong guy (sounds like you are) and you really want to concentrate on just sprints you'll want to use pretty high drag factors. Don't necessarily slam the damper lever to 10, but play around with it (and get the PM to display the Drag Factor) An old machine which hasn't been maintained may well have lots to dust inside the fan housing, with will cause the Drag Factor at a given lever position to be lower than it should be. Given that you're interested in 500m times you'll want a higher Drag Factor than if you were doing a 2k or a 10k.

There are a few threads on the forum started by guys who were training for similar short distances. Do some searching using possible keywords like "sprint" or "500m" and you'll probably find them.

Finally, assuming the gym lets you do this it's probably a good idea to give the rower a quick cleaning. I'd start by removing the cover and giving the flywheel area a good cleaning (a vacuum cleaner will help, but damp paper towels will also do the trick), then lubricate the chain and clean the rail and seat rollers. There's lots of info on the C2 web site on recommended maintenance and how to clean the flywheel.

Good Luck

Thank you.

A few facts, so you don't get disappointed midway:

In last season, 5487 male rowers logged a 500 meter ranking attempt. Of those, 69 rowers had a time of 1:20 or better. So 1:20 is a serious target, which will place you just outside the top 1%.

To get to 1:20 from 1:35, you will need to output 67% more power.

Anyway, 1:35 is rather impressive if you never rowed before, so the target may be within reach.

I did more research and realized this. Perhaps 1:25 is a better goal lol.

More infos about you would be helpful:

- have you ever rowed before/other endurance background?
- what's your height/weight/age?
- what's your deadlift and squat max?

If you're 6ft6, 120kg and deadlift 600lb you'll propably only need a proper technique

You should consider that for 500m a solid endurance base is very helpful, otherwise you'll propably die at about 45-60sec.

For comparison, one year ago, I did my first fast 500m after rowing about 50km total within about 1 month and got 1:31. I have a strength training background, and at the time I did this 500m I deadlifted about 160kg/350lb for 18 reps.
By now I'm not as strong as I was, but have a much better endurance and technique and have a PB of 1:23. Like Allen posted before, there's a huge gape between 1:35 and 1:20:
1:35 - 408 Watts
1:20 - 684 Watts
1:10,5 (WR) - 1000 Watts

I am 6'2 210 lbs 29 years old. No endurance background really.

Best squat and dead is a bit over 500 lbs each. Right now around 400/400 from injuries.

Thank you everyone else. 1:25 seems more realistic

[KeithT]

Welcome to the forum.

You could check out some of the links in my response to a similar question elsewhere on the forum:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=186443#p474863

If you're a strong guy (sounds like you are) and you really want to concentrate on just sprints you'll want to use pretty high drag factors. Don't necessarily slam the damper lever to 10, but play around with it (and get the PM to display the Drag Factor) An old machine which hasn't been maintained may well have lots to dust inside the fan housing, with will cause the Drag Factor at a given lever position to be lower than it should be. Given that you're interested in 500m times you'll want a higher Drag Factor than if you were doing a 2k or a 10k.

There are a few threads on the forum started by guys who were training for similar short distances. Do some searching using possible keywords like "sprint" or "500m" and you'll probably find them.

Finally, assuming the gym lets you do this it's probably a good idea to give the rower a quick cleaning. I'd start by removing the cover and giving the flywheel area a good cleaning (a vacuum cleaner will help, but damp paper towels will also do the trick), then lubricate the chain and clean the rail and seat rollers. There's lots of info on the C2 web site on recommended maintenance and how to clean the flywheel.

Good Luck

Thank you.

A few facts, so you don't get disappointed midway:

In last season, 5487 male rowers logged a 500 meter ranking attempt. Of those, 69 rowers had a time of 1:20 or better. So 1:20 is a serious target, which will place you just outside the top 1%.

To get to 1:20 from 1:35, you will need to output 67% more power.

Anyway, 1:35 is rather impressive if you never rowed before, so the target may be within reach.

I did more research and realized this. Perhaps 1:25 is a better goal lol.

More infos about you would be helpful:

- have you ever rowed before/other endurance background?
- what's your height/weight/age?
- what's your deadlift and squat max?

If you're 6ft6, 120kg and deadlift 600lb you'll propably only need a proper technique

You should consider that for 500m a solid endurance base is very helpful, otherwise you'll propably die at about 45-60sec.

For comparison, one year ago, I did my first fast 500m after rowing about 50km total within about 1 month and got 1:31. I have a strength training background, and at the time I did this 500m I deadlifted about 160kg/350lb for 18 reps.
By now I'm not as strong as I was, but have a much better endurance and technique and have a PB of 1:23. Like Allen posted before, there's a huge gape between 1:35 and 1:20:
1:35 - 408 Watts
1:20 - 684 Watts
1:10,5 (WR) - 1000 Watts

I am 6'2 210 lbs 29 years old. No endurance background really.

Best squat and dead is a bit over 500 lbs each. Right now around 400/400 from injuries.

Thank you everyone else. 1:25 seems more realistic

With your height, weight and strength you could definitely get to 1:25 with some training on the ERG. Build up some endurance and lactic threshold and you can get there. Prob could get to lower 1:20s even if you really trained for it. Getting under 1:20 quite another thing though - I think you may be similar in size strength to me and Martin (but much younger than me) and we are at 1:23 with quite a bit of rowing training under our belts. So, I like the idea of getting to 1:25 first - that's a good goal.